I would like to present a fascinating idea to my royal audience that I have struggled with for many years. Why did Yitzchak Avinu go to Gan Eden after the Akeidah for three years, while he was still alive? I would like to propose an answer based on a teaching in the Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer (30) related to Akeidas Yitzchak:
Rabbi Yehudah said: When the blade touched his neck, the soul of Yitzchak fled and departed, but when he heard His (HKB”H’s) voice from between the two Keruvim, saying (to Abraham), “Do not extend your hand” (ibid. 22, 12), his soul returned to his body, and he (Abraham) set him free. Yitzchak stood up on his feet, and Yitzchak knew that the dead are destined to be revived in this manner in the future. He began to speak and said, “Blessed art thou Hashem Who revives the dead.”
In the Midrash Seichel Tov (Bereishis 22), this passage is brought down with a significant addendum. During the Akeidah, Yitzchak’s neshamah flew away and ascended to Gan Eden. There, it saw the neshamah of his mother, Sarah, who had already passed away, because the “samech-mem” had gone and said to her, “Poor thing, the son that was given to you in your old age, his father has already slaughtered him.” She screamed, and her neshamah left her.
Upon suddenly seeing his mother in Gan Eden, Yitzchak’s pain and distress must have been extreme and unbearable. All the more so, when she told him what the Satan had told her. She expressed her intense sorrow that her son had been slaughtered before he had the opportunity to marry and father children who would continue the lineage of the holy people of Yisrael. Even though Yitzchak was not to blame for this, nevertheless he felt terrible that his Akeidah had caused these events, and it caused him immense grief and agony.
Sarah, on the other hand, was elated to see Yitzchak even for a short period of time. Her true desire, however, was that her son would continue his life in Olam HaZeh, marry a suitable wife, and father children and grandchildren, who would propagate the ways of the Torah and the Jewish faith. After all, this had been the life work she and Avraham Avinu had pioneered and publicized throughout the world, as expressed by the passuk (ibid. 12, 5): "ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן"—and the souls that they made in Charan. Rashi explains that this refers to all the people that they took in under the wings of the Shechinah. Avraham would convert the men, and Sarah would convert the women. Thus, it is understandable that it distressed Sarah immensely to see her son in Gan Eden before he had a chance to marry and have children that would continue their lineage and perpetuate their teachings.
Then, suddenly, as described in the Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer, the voice of HKB”H was heard from between the Keruvim. He cautioned Avraham not to lay a hand on the lad and not to harm him in any way. Thereupon, Yitzchak’s neshamah returned to his body, he stood up on his feet and uttered the berachah: "ברוך אתה ה' מחיה המתים".
We know, however, that it states in parshas Toldos (ibid. 25, 20): "ויהי יצחק בן ארבעים שנה בקחתו את רבקה"—Yitzchak was forty years old when he took Rivkah . . . to be his wife. Rashi explains that Rivkah was born at the time of the Akeidah when Yitzchak was 37 years old, and he waited three years until she would be fit to have relations; then he married her. In other words, even after Yitzchak was revived, he still had to wait three years until he could marry Rivkah.
Yitzchak Wanted to Make Amends for His Mother’s Sorrow
With the utmost respect, I would like to propose a novel idea. When Yitzchak’s neshamah returned to his body, he contemplated what had transpired, as is the nature of tzaddikim. Why did HKB”H arrange for his neshamah to fly away and ascend to the very same Gan Eden where his mother Sarah’s neshamah was located? He concluded that it was the will of HKB”H that he make amends for having caused her to pass away. He understood that even though it was on account of the Satan’s duplicity, and he himself was not personally responsible for his mother’s death; nevertheless, since his Akeidah had caused her such emotional turmoil, he felt that he should attempt to rectify the matter.
Therefore, he prayed to HKB”H to be allowed to ascend once again to the Gan Eden of his mother Sarah. There, he would study Torah for three years to make his mother happy and so that she could enjoy his Torah. This explanation relies on a teaching in the Zohar hakadosh (Shelach 167b) that it was revealed to Rashbi from above that that there are six separate havens—“heichalot”—in Gan Eden for women. They are situated adjacent to the “heichalot” of their husbands and sons, so that these women may delight in the Torah-study of their husbands and sons. At the end of three years, when Rivkah was suitable for marriage, Sarah sent her son back to Olam HaZeh to marry Rivkah and perpetuate the legacy and lineage of the people of Yisrael.
It appears that we can support this intriguing notion from a passuk in this week’s parsha (ibid. 24, 67): "ויביאה יצחק האהלה שרה אמו ויקח את רבקה ותהי לו לאשה ויאהבה וינחם יצחק אחרי אמו"—and Yitzchak brought her into the tent of Sarah, his mother; he took Rivkah, she became his wife, he loved her, and thus Yitzchak was consoled for the loss of his mother. Here Rashi cites the Midrash: “And he brought her into the tent”—and behold, she was “Sarah, his mother”; in other words, she then became the image of Sarah, his mother. For the entire time that Sarah was alive, a candle burned from erev Shabbas to erev Shabbas, a berachah was present in the dough, and a cloud was stationed over the tent.
But once she died, they ceased; but when Rivkah came, they returned.
Rashi also comments: “Yitzchak was consoled for the loss of his mother”—it is human nature that as long as a man’s mother is alive, he is attached to her; and when she dies, he is consoled through his wife.
We can suggest that Rashi is alluding to what the Midrash teaches—that after the Akeidah, when his neshamah returned to him, Yitzchak went to Gan Eden for three years. As we have explained, he studied Torah there for three years to gladden his mother. In other words, during the entire three years that he waited to marry Rivkah, Yitzchak remained attached to his mother in Gan Eden. After he left Gan Eden and parted from her, he mourned the fact that she was no longer in Olam HaZeh. Then, when he married Rivkah, he was consoled over the loss of his mother.
Understood in this light, we can make sense of the passuk: "ואברהם זקן בא בימים וה' ברך את אברהם בכל". Recall that Rashi points out the gematria of "בכל" equals "בן". This prompted us to ask why this gematria was necessary. We already knew that Avraham had a son; it is stated explicitly in the Torah. Based on what we have learned, however, we can suggest the following: This comment of Rashi’s is consistent with his viewpoint that Yitzchak remained attached to his mother Sarah in Gan Eden for three years. Accordingly, Avraham did not actually have a son in Olam HaZeh during those three years. Furthermore, he was not certain that Yitzchak would return to Olam HaZeh. After three years, however, when Yitzchak returned to Olam HaZeh, the Torah informs us: "וה' ברך את אברהם בכל". As per Rashi’s clarification, this indicates that Avraham had his son, Yitzchak, once again. That being the case, it was necessary to find him a wife.
